Jones, Joseph Rudolph “Philly Joe”
(1923–1985)
JONES, JOSEPH RUDOLPH “PHILLY JOE” (15 Jul 1923, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 30 Aug 1985, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). Drumset artist Philly Joe Jones studied piano with his mother, played drums locally while in high school, and then served in the U.S. Army (1941), returning to Philadelphia to drive a streetcar. While there he appeared with John Coltrane, Fats Navarro, Ben Webster, the Heath Brothers, and Dizzy Gillespie; he then moved to New York in 1947 and 1952 (with a three-year hiatus in…